Patterns of family formation

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Abstract

The aim of the thesis was to examine patterns of
family formation; to consider the ways families in one
developed country had been built up and the future fertility
changes that were anticipated. Interviews were conducted
with one hundred and five women, each of whom had just had
a second child, and the resulting accounts of their family
formation patterns were subjected to a qualitative and
quantitative analysis. Timing to the first child seemed to stem from the
couple's view of marriage and the place of children within
it. Three constellations of ideas were noted. Firstly,
there were those couples (largely working class) who felt
children were the primary reason for marriage and, hence,
once married, it was best to begin the family as quickly
as possible. Secondly, there were those couples (largely
middle class) who, though they felt children were essential
to a marriage, felt it was more important for newly-married
couples to establish themselves financially. These couples
tended to wait two or three years before beginning their
families. Thirdly, there were those couples who felt
children added to a marriage but that they must "fit in"
with other arrangements the husband and wife had. These
couples were not characteristically middle or working class
and, in most cases, it was the woman's age which prompted
them to have their first child. Timing to the second child seemed to be influenced
mainly by the desire for a specific interval of time
between children and there appeared to be two competing
considerations in this regard. On the one hand, it was
important to have children close so that they could be
playmates and, on the other hand, it was important to have
some space between them so that each child could get its
share of attention. Most women appeared to be trying to
balance these two considerations.
With regard to future fertility intentions, most
couples in our sample wanted and were planning on having
only the two children. Most had always wanted a small
family and could see few reasons to continue with childbearing,
Those couples who were planning (or undecided
about) additional children tended to be desirous of a mixed sex
family and/or positively oriented towards larger families.